THE POWER OF
FORGIVENESS
“And, behold,
they brought to him a man sick of the
palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus
seeing their faith said unto the sick
of the palsy; Son, he of good cheer;
thy sins be forgiven thee. And,
behold, certain of the scribes said
within themselves, this man
blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their
thoughts said, wherefore think ye
evil in your hearts? For whether is
easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven
thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But
that ye may know that the Son of man
hath power on earth to forgive sins,
(then saith he to the sick of the
palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and
go unto thine house. And he arose,
and departed to his house. But when
the multitudes saw it, they marveled,
and glorified God, which had given
such power unto men.” Matthew
9:2-8.
One of the most common expressions to
be heard among professed Christians
when speaking of religious things is
this: “I can understand and
believe that God will forgive sin,
but it is hard for me to believe that
He can keep me from sin.” Such a
person has yet to learn very much of
what is meant by God’s forgiving
sins. It is true that persons who
talk that way do often have a measure
of peace in believing that God has
forgiven, or does forgive, their
sins; but through failure to grasp
the power of forgiveness, they
deprive themselves of much blessing
that they might enjoy.
Bearing in mind the statement
concerning the miracles of Christ,
that “these are written, that ye
might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through
his name.” (John 20:31), let us
study the miracle before us. The
scribes did not believe that Jesus
could forgive sin. In order to show
that He had the power to forgive
sins, He healed the palsied man. The
miracle was wrought for the express
purpose of illustrating the work of
forgiving sin, and demonstrating its
power. Jesus said to the palsied man,
“Arise, take up thy bed, and go
unto thine house,” they, and we,
might know His power to forgive sin.
Therefore, the power exhibited in the
healing of that man is the power
bestowed in the forgiveness of sin.
Note particularly that the effect of
the words of Jesus continued after
they were spoken. They made a change
in the man, and that change was
permanent. Even so, it must be in the
forgiveness of sin. The common idea
is that when God forgives sin the
change is in Himself, and not in the
man. It is thought that God simply
ceases to hold anything against the
one who has sinned. However, this is
to imply that God had a hardness
against the man, which is not the
case. God is not a man; He does not
cherish enmity, nor harbor a feeling
of revenge. It is not because God has
an angry feeling in His heart against
a sinner that changes when he asks
forgiveness, but because the sinner
has something in his heart. God is
all right; the man is all-wrong;
therefore, God forgives the man that
he may also be all right.
When Jesus, illustrating the
forgiveness of sin, said to the man,
“Arise take up thy bed, and go
unto thine house,” the man arose
and went to his house. The power that
was in the words of Jesus raised him
up, and made him walk. That power
remained in him, and it was in the
strength that was given him on
removing the palsy that he walked in
all time to come, provided, of
course, that he kept the faith. The
psalmist illustrates this when he
says, “I waited patiently for
the Lord; and he inclined unto me,
and heard my cry. He brought me up
also out of the horrible pit, out of
the miry clay, and set my feet upon a
rock, and established my
goings.” Psalm 40:1-2.
There is life in the words of God.
Jesus said, “The words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and
they are life.” John 6:63. The
Word received in faith brings the
Spirit and the life of God into the
soul. So, when the penitent soul
hears the words, “Son, be of
good cheer; thy sins be forgiven
thee” Matthew 9:2), and receives
those words as living words of the
living God, he is a different man,
because a new life has begun in him.
It is the power of God’s
forgiveness, and that alone, that
keeps him from sin. If he continues
in sin after receiving pardon, it is
because he has not grasped the
fullness of the blessing that was
given him in the forgiveness of his
sins.
God forgives sin by taking it
away. He justifies the ungodly by
making him godly.
In the case before us, the man
received new life. His palsied
condition was simply the wasting away
of his natural life. He was partially
dead. The words of Christ gave him
fresh life. However, this new life
that was given to his body, and which
enabled him to walk, was but an
illustration, both to him and to the
scribes, of the unseen life of God,
which he had received in the words,
“Thy sins be forgiven
thee,” and which had made him a
new creature in Christ.
With this sample and clear
illustration before us, we may
understand some of the words of the
apostle Paul, which otherwise are
“hard to understand.” See 2
Peter 3:16. Let us first read
Colossians 1: 12-14. “Giving
thanks unto the Father, which hath
made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light:
who hath delivered us from the power
of darkness, and hath translated us
into the kingdom of His dear Son; in
whom we have redemption through his
blood, even the forgiveness of
sin.” See the same statement
concerning redemption through
Christ’s blood in 1 Peter
1:18-19; Revelation 5:9. Mark two
points-we have redemption through
Christ’s blood, and this
redemption is for the forgiveness of
sins. See Genesis 9:4; Leviticus
17:13-14. Therefore Colossians 1:14
really tell us that we have
redemption through Christ’s
life. But does not the Scripture say
that we are reconciled to God by the
death of His Son? -It does, and that
is just what is here taught. Christ
“gave himself for us, that we
might redeem us from all
iniquity.” Titus 2:14. He
“gave himself for our
sins.” He “gave himself for
our sins.” Galatians 1:4. In
giving Himself, He gives His life. In
shedding His blood, He pours out His
life. However, in giving up His life,
He gives it to us. That life is
righteousness of God, so that when we
receive it, we are “made the
righteousness of God in Him.” 2
Corinthians 5:21. It is the receiving
of Christ’s life, as we are
baptized into His death that
reconciles us to God. It is thus that
we “put on the new man, which
after God created in righteousness
and true holiness” (Ephesians
4:24), “After the image of him
that created him (Colossians
3:10).”
Now we may read Romans 3:23-25, and
find that it is not so very
difficult: “For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God;
being justified [that is, made
righteous, or doers of the law]
freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness
for remission [sending away] of sins
that are past, through the
forbearance of God.”
All have sinned. The whole life has
been sin. Even the thoughts have been
evil. See Mark 7:21. In addition, to
be carnally minded is death.
Therefore, the life of sin is a
living death. If the soul is not
freed from this, it will end in
eternal death. There is no power in
man to get righteousness out of the
holy law of God; therefore, God in
His mercy puts His own righteousness
upon all who believe. He makes us
righteous as a free gift out of the
riches of His grace. He does this by
His words, for He declares –
speaks – His righteousness into
and upon all who have faith in the
blood of Christ, in whom is
God’s righteousness; “for
in him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily.” Colossians
2:9. And this declaring or speaking
the righteousness of God upon us is
the remission or taking away of sin.
Thus, God takes away the sinful life
by putting His own righteous life in
its place. In addition, this is the
power of the forgiveness of sin. It
is “the power of an endless
life.” Hebrews 7:16.
This is the beginning of the
Christian life. It is the receiving
the life of God by faith. How is it
continued? – Just as it begun.
“As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him.” Colossians 2:6. For
“the just will live by
faith.” Hebrews 10:38. The
secret of living the Christian life
is simply that of holding fast the
life which, received at the
beginning, forgives the sin.
God forgives sin by taking it away.
He justifies the ungodly by making
him godly. He reconciles the rebel
sinner to Himself, by taking away his
rebellion, and making him a loyal and
law-abiding subject. It is sometimes
said, “But it is difficult to
understand how we can have the life
of God as an actual fact; it cannot
be real, for it is by faith that we
have it.” Therefore, it was by
faith that the poor palsied man
received new life and strength; but
was his strength any the less real.
Was it not actual fact that he
received strength? “Cannot
understand it”? Of course not,
for it is a manifestation of
“love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge.” Ephesians 3:19.
However, we may believe it and
realize the fact, and then we shall
have eternal life in which to study
the wonder of it. Read again and
again the story of the healing of the
palsied man, and meditate upon it
until it is a living reality to you,
and then remember that “These
are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God; and that believing ye might have
life through his name.” John
20:31.
